The Friendship of Art & Math
by Elysium1996
Summary: I didn’t have to pretend I wasn't smart around them Charlie rekindles a friendship with siblings from his Princeton days. Ongoing story of friendship and one woman falling for a friend's brother.
1. Old Friends

8/25/06 chapter cleaned up again. Arg always finding typos!

I do not own or have anything to with Numb3rs. This story is my own Marysue. Yeah you read it correctly. So if you don't like them don't read it. I write for my own pleasure and if someone else enjoys my little silly stories then so be it. If you don't like my story that is ok too but please no bashing only constructive feedback wanted.

I am not a good writer but I hope to improve as I read other fanfictions and keep working on mine.

Feedback is always welcome and if you have a suggestion on where you want to story to go my ears and eyes are always open. There will be more stories to follow but done under different postings.

And personal thanks for my kick ass beta readers, Roth & Eff. I may not always listen to them but they makes me want to become a better writer. Also thanks to Lemon PopTart Squeeeeee

* * *

"Hello, Charles. Where are you off to in such hurry," Larry said. 

"Hey Larry. I'm meeting Amita. We're attending a lecture over at Dabney and as usual, I'm running late."

"Uh, Charles, another math date?"

Charlie shook his head and replied, "Not this time. Do you want to join us? We're also going to do lunch."

"What is the topic?"

"I think Amita said the topic was called Math can be found in the world's greatest works of art'"

Sounds stimulating."

"Great let's go over."

They found Amita at the back of the hall. "Hey Charlie. Hey Larry. Let's go get some seats. I think they're ready to begin." The threesome filed down the hall and took some seats in the center, front row. Charlie took a look at the program that was provided to him about the speaker.

Dean Waters stepped up to the podium. "Welcome colleagues and students. Today CalSci has the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Giada Conti. She is here to a do a lecture followed by a Q and A session on "Math can be found in the world's greatest works of art."

"Please give her a warm welcome and now with out further adieu, Dr. Conti."

A slim, dark haired woman stepped up to the podium. Her eyes glittered with excitement, and her smile radiated warmth to the crowd. The audience applauded their guest, and she nodded her head in thanks.

Charlie looked at the woman in stunned surprise and said, "It couldn't be her?"

Amita looked at Charlie and said," What's that Charlie?"

"I know her."

"You know Dr Conti?"

"I met her back when I was at Princeton. I thought the name sounded familiar." He gestured to the program. "I'll fill you in after the lecture."

"Thank you, Dean Waters, for the warm welcome. It is my pleasure to be here at CalSci, standing in front of so many brilliant minds. I hope you'll enjoy the following lecture on Art and Math. You may be wondering how these two genres are related. I say not only are they related; they are two of the purest forms of expression."

The lights went out in the hall, and a slide by Leonard Da Vinci was displayed.

The lecture ended, and Charlie waited to say hello to an old friend.

Amita looked to Charlie and said, "So, you said you knew Dr. Conti?"

"Yes, from when I was a senior at Princeton. My mother was worried about my social skills, and made me join this club that gets 'gifted' teens together for academic and leisure activities. It actually ended up being a lot of fun. We did activities with students from Upenn & Columbia on a monthly basis. I met Giada and her twin brother Giovanni at the September activity. I just remember clicking with them immediately. They are the same age as I am, and I never felt strange in their presence. If I remember correctly, they were freshman, at the time and constantly played practical jokes on each other." Charlie also recalled being a little jealous of the siblings' closeness, and their need to help each other. "The two of them were very likeable back then, and they were a lot of fun. I didn't have to pretend I wasn't smart around them. Jonny used to call us his 'brain posse'." Charlie smiled at the memory of the good times he had that year. "Our little group consisted of the three of us, and two other students named Jade and Newton." He chuckled to himself when he remembered all the silly things the five of them had gotten into that year.

Giada has finished talking to the dean and a student, when she spied Charlie.

"Charles Eppes?"

Charlie smiled at his old friend. "Hi Gia"

"Oh my gawd, it is you." The two old friends hugged as if no time had come between them. "How have you been? It's been ages. What are you up to? I can't believe it's you. I so have to call my brother."

Charlie laughed as he recalled that Gia had a tendency to talk very fast.

Even faster then he did. "I'm fine, and I'm a professor here at CalSci."

"Really? That's wonderful. I'm so happy to hear that. I remember that it was a goal for you to become a professor."

"You seem to be doing quite well, yourself. "

Gia laughed. "I like to think that I am doing well."

Larry and Amita stood there waiting to be introduced but as usual, Charlie was in his own world and forgot what he had planned on doing. Gia realized this and turned to the man and woman with Charlie and said, "Hi, I'm Gia Conti. Are you friends of Charlie's?"

Charlie snapped out of his reverie and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Let me introduce you to Larry Fleinhardt and Amita Ramajuan they're my friends and colleagues here at Calsci."

"Pleasure to meet you Larry and Amita."

Charlie looked to his friend and said, "Hey Gia, do you think you can join us for lunch? We were just going to head over to the cafeteria"

Gia smiled. "Yum cafeteria food. You know how to welcome a girl," she said to Charlie and winked. "That sounds great. Let me just get my stuff together."

The foursome sat at the table and chatted. Larry and Amita laughed over the silly stories that Gia and Charlie are telling about that year.

"I thought Jade and you were going to kills us after we had the bucket of slime fall on you"

Gia rolled her eyes. "You were so lucky your mom and mine intervened cause Jade and I were going to commit justifiable homicide on the three of you."

Amita and Larry laughed at the image of Gia and the other student standing in their best dresses with green slime dripping off of them.

Charlie laughed. "I know we had to promise our mothers that there would be no more practical jokes."

"Speaking of mothers, how is yours? She was always so nice to me and my brother."

Charlie's eyes turned sad and wistful as he said, "Um, my mother passed away a few years ago."

Gia's smile faltered. "Oh god Charlie, I am so sorry. I didn't know." She took his hand and squeezed it for comfort. "She was a really great lady and it was a pleasure to know her."

Charlie mumbled, "Thanks, she thought the world of you and your brother."

The four of them sat in silence for a moment. Gia worried about the sadness in her friend's eyes and looked to Larry and Amita for help. They also had the same look on their faces.

"Tell me, how did you two become friends with the illustrious Dr. Eppes?" Gia's gaze shifted between Larry and Amita.

Charlie realized that his friend was trying to move the subject away from his mother's death to make him feel better. He laughed as she regarded him as 'the illustrious Dr. Eppes'.


	2. Origami and humiliation

8/2506 some editing and revamping.

There was a knock on the door of Charlie's office. He didn't seem to hear the person right away.

"Hey Charlie. Earth to Charlie, come in Charlie." Gia waved her hand in front of Charlie's face.

"Oh huh? Hey Gia. Sorry, I was just thinking."

Gia snorted. "Ha! You're always thinking. I was having lunch over with Dean Waters and we talked about doing a second lecture. I figured I would stop in for a quick hello before I went back to my office and I wanted to return your book on Origami. Thanks for lending it to me,"

Charlie grinned back at Gia. "You are most welcome. Any luck?"

"Um no. I tried for the last 2 weeks and I couldn't do it. For someone with an Art Degree I'm bit inept at Origami. Oh well, I tried"

Charlie laughed. "Are you sure you have an Art degree?"

"Yea, yeah laugh it up. We can't all be real geniuses. Some of us have to be psuedo ones."

Charlie grinned back at his friend. "Hey, you still coming over for dinner on Friday? My dad wants you to redeem the rain check you gave him last week."

"Yup, I'm going to run home from the office and then I'll come over. Can I bring anything?"

"Nah, my dad wouldn't want you to. He likes having people over."

"Well if you're sure that I can't." She shrugged. "I'm Italian and it's an innate quality to want to bring food. Ok well I will talk to you later I have a stack of reports to write. Bye Charlie"

"Bye Gia" Charlie said as he turned back to the blackboard.

* * *

Gia stepped out of Charlie's office, put her IPOD ear buds on and walked down the hall. 

At the same time a dark hair man turned the corner where they slammed into each other. The man was knocked to the ground.

"Oh my God! I am so sorry," Gia said as she scrambled to help the stranger up.

"Argh, no problem," the man said as he got off the floor.

Gia muttered, "I wasn't paying attention. Are you hurt?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Are you ok?"

Gia's looked the stranger straight in his dark smoldering eyes and was taken a back. Her breath was momentarily caught in her chest as they held each other's gaze for a moment.

Gia was lost for words and was unable to stop staring at the handsome stranger.

"Miss? You okay? Your lip is bleeding."

"Oh, huh? My lip?" She put her hand to her lip. She looked down at her finger and saw a small drop of blood. "Um, yes I'm fine. I only bit it."

"Okay good. Well, take care." he continued to walk down the hall. She heard him open a door and say, "Hey buddy."

She escaped down the hallway, her face all flushed and embarrassed. She sank to the floor and put her hands to her face. She thought, 'I am such a spaz. I just totally mowed down a totally hot guy."

It was Friday evening and Gia was on her way over to Charlie's for supper and a movie. She stopped at the liquor store to pick up a bottle of wine. As she was headed up to the check out counter, she spied the man she ran into the other day. She quickly turned in the other direction and hid in one of the isle. She really didn't feel like reliving the events of earlier. It had been embarressing enough that she had stared at him.

She watched him from her hiding spot in the wine isle. There was something vaguly familiar about his face but she couldn't place it.

She saw him check out with a six-pack and heard him thank the clerk. Gia saw that the coast was clear and went up to the counter to make her purchase. She was relieved at not being spotted. She walked to the door and hoped that the gorgeous stranger had left the parking lot. She hopped in her car and headed over to Charlie's.

* * *

At the Eppes' house, Don walked into the kitchen. "Hey Dad" He put the six-pack that he had just bought in the fridge. 

"Donnie my boy so good of you to join us. You're just in time to meet a friend of Charlie's from when he was at Princeton."

They heard the doorbell ring. "Don would you mind getting the door and then telling your brother dinner is ready."

"Okay, Dad, will do." He walked to the front door to greet his brother's friend. He opened the door and stared in disbelief at the woman who had knocked him over earlier in the week. He saw her face flush bright red.

Gia muttered, "Oh my gawd. Could this week be getting any worse?" Gia felt her face flush with embarrassment.

Don noticed the woman's obvious embarrassment and said, "Hi, I'm Don Eppes. You must be Charlie's friend."

Gia regained her composure and said, "Uh, Hi. I'm Giada Conti. Please to meet you. Your brother talks about you all the time."

"Really? Well don't believe anything he tells you 'cause it is either untrue or worse than what he said," Don said.

She gave him a smile back and replied, "Nah, he hasn't said anything that is too unflattering."

"That's good. Come on in. We can go grab Charlie from the garage since my dad said dinner was ready."

"Yeah sure. Thanks. Sorry about the other day."

"Don't worry about it."

At that very moment Charlie walks in. "Giada. Hey so glad that you made it"

"Hey Charlie."

"I see you met my brother. Let me introduce you to my dad."

Alan Eppes stepped out of the kitchen to see his son's friend. "Welcome Giada. I'm glad that you could finally come over."

"Hello Mr. Eppes. Thanks again for inviting me."

"Please, call me Alan and you are always welcome at here."

They sat down to a nice meal and chatted about Charlie's time at Princeton.

Alan regaled their guest with stories of when Charlie was a kid.

"Come on Dad stop telling these stories."

"Oh no, Charlie. I want to hear more", said Giada, "I also think he should break out the baby pics."

Charlie cried, "No way are you looking at baby pics." He then pointed a finger at Giada and said; "Just you wait till I see your brother. I am going to get all the dirt on you.

"What's there to get? I was a perfect and lovely child."

Don arched his eyebrow and said, "Yeah, I have only known you for an hour and I find that hard to believe."

The Eppes men begun to clean up the supper dishes and took them into the kitchen.

Alan called into the dining room where their guest was, " I hope you left room for dessert."

Gia walked her plate into the kitchen and was promptly shooed out by Alan. "You're a guest here, the boys and I can clean up. Please go sit down."

"Okay, if you're sure."

"Of course I'm sure. I'll be out with the dessert in a moment."

Alan went to the fridge and took out the lemon merignue pie that he got from the bakery.

He stepped out into the dinning room. "I hope you like lemon pie."

She grinned. "Oh yeah definitely. After chocolate silk, lemon is the best."

* * *

The two brothers have put the dishes in the dishwasher and are finished cleaning up when Don turned to Charlie and said, "So aside from egging dad on for stories about you as a kid. Your friend seems nice. 

"Yeah she is really great," Charlie, observed the looked his brother gave him and said, "What's with the look? Ah! You're getting the wrong idea about us. We're just friends. I will have to admit I had a crush on her when I first met her but that was long ago. And besides I kind of think of her as the sister I always wanted."

"Sister? What an older brother isn't good enough for you?"

"Jealous?"

Don tossed a dishtowel at Charlie's head.

Charlie laughed. "I mean, don't get me wrong, she's beautiful and intelligent but I just don't think of her like that."

"Okay buddy. She seems like a good friend."

"That she is. Come on we better hurry up. No telling what dad is telling her."

* * *

Alan served a slice of pie to Gia and cut a slice for the him self and the boys. 

"So Gia, what brings you out to the L.A. area?"

"This pie is delicious. Um, I actually was offered a very lucrative position from an auction house. It was too good to pass up. Also, I missed my brother and sister so I headed out west."

Don said, "You sound like you have a huge family."

"Yeah, I do. I have four siblings and a huge extended family. They are a pain but I love 'em anyway. Anyway, it's getting pretty late and I have a full day tomorrow. I'm taking my niece and nephew off my sisters hands for the day and they are a handful." Gia mused.

Alan smiled. "How old are they?"

"Umm let's see. They are turning six in September. They're really good but they have a lot of energy and they are extremely intelligent. They question everything and anything so you have to be on your toes. She smiled, Mr. Eppes, I mean Alan. It was a pleasure to finally get to meet you. It was nice to meet you too, Don."

"You are most certainly are welcome and I hope you'll come back and visit."

Gia smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

Don said, "Yeah it was nice to meet you too."

Charlie walked Gia to the door. "Thanks again for coming over. I hope you had a good time."

"I did, it was really nice to meet your family." She gave him a hug goodbye. "I'll call you next week so we can get together with Giovanni."

"That would be great. " He closed the door behind his friend and went to join his dad and brother for another piece of pie.

* * *

Gia sat in her car for a moment. She thought it was really nice meeting Charlie's dad. She recalled how Charlie had talked about him and how Margaret had smiled every time her husband had been mentioned. A small sad smile crossed over lips. What a shame about Margaret. She could tell the Eppes' men missed her a great deal and it was a wound that would never completely heal. Gia's thoughts ended up on Don. 'I can't believe that he was that guy I knocked over. How is that for a twist of fate?' She toyed with the idea of asking him out and thought better of it. 'Why would he go out with me anyway? I am just his brother's friend and I made such a great first impression on him anyway. ' She shuddered at her own clumsiness. She sighed at the predicament. 'Well, I came to LA to escape not to fall in love. Great. Just what I need to be attracted to my friend's brother. Damn!' 

She put her car in drive and headed home.

Don walked by the front window and saw Gia sitting in her car. He wondered why she hadn't pulled away yet. He saw her shake her head and wondered what that was about. He watched her pull away and head south. He thought she was a little odd but nice.


	3. Art Forgeries

6/18/06 -here is the missing chapter. I had to do some reworking on it because it is not the same as the original one. I must have accidentally deleted it or something.

Thanks.

* * *

It was a day like any other day. A call came in to the bureau about a murder and another art house robbery. It was at Wither's Auction and Appraisal house and the victim was Mr. Wither himself.

"It appears someone was robbing the place when Mr. Wither surprised him," Megan said to David.

David gestured to a small gold statue and said, "The ME thinks that the killer used this to hit the victim over the head.

Don joined the team at the crime scene. He said, "this looks like the same group that robbed the other art houses, but this is the first time they killed anyone."

Megan replied, "They trashed the place looking for something specific."

Don nodded and said, "We'll have to have Mr., Wither's assistant to check the inventory to see what items are missing and so we can match it against the items from the other robberies."

Megan shook her head at the needless violence. "I hope that the algorithm that Charlie is working on will provide us with some clue on the suspects, especially now that they're willing to kill for what they're looking for."

The team headed back to the office to continue the investigation and to give Charlie the newest information.

Charlie was sitting in the conference room working out an algorithm to help pinpoint where the next robbery would be and why the thieves were choosing those specific locations.

"Hey, buddy. As soon as Megan is finished with the report on the latest robbery she'll bring it in for you."

"Don, I don't know what to do. I should have had some answer for you already but the data is not making sense. And now someone got killed cause I couldn't make heads or tails of the answer."

"Charlie it's not your fault that the guy got killed. The suspects hadn't included any violence before this incident. There is no way you could've known so don't blame yourself. Just focus on the algorithm. You'll come up with the answer."

Colby stepped into the conference room. "Hey Don, Hey Charlie here's the list of stolen items that Mr. Wither's assistant provided us."

Don took the file from Colby, "Thanks Colby."

Colby continued talking, "The assistant made a pretty interesting statement that I think you should know. He said that he was surprised that the Monet that they had in the vault was not stolen. It's supposed to be up for auction in a few weeks. He said that the painting would go for at least a million on the black market."

Don rubbed his chin and said, "Really? That doesn't make sense. Did the assistant know anything about what was stolen?"

"No, he didn't. He's actually an intern and doesn't have the expertise to really say. But, he did hear Mr. Wither state that the paintings were cheap rubbish compare to the Monet."

Charlie looked Don and said, "I think I know what could help me understand the data."

Don looked at Charlie, "What's that

"I need to talk to Giada Conti. She may be able to shed some light on the background of the artwork."

"I don't know, Charlie. Why do you think she could help?"

"Well we wouldn't have to give her any sensitive data, just ask her to look at the list of stolen items and see if she can give some us some thoughts on what is so special about them. Besides, Giada is very high ranking in her field and I think we may benefit from her knowledge."

Don thought for a moment. "Okay Charlie, if you really think she could help we can go talk to her."

* * *

"Let me call her and see if she's in her office."

At Giada's office, her assistant rang her line to tell her that there was a phone call.

"Dr. Conti? I have a call from a Dr. Charles Eppes on line three for you

Giada's face lit up when she heard her friend's name. "Oh, yes, Paula put him through."

"Hey Charlie. How's it going? Still have heartburn from dinner last week?" She teased.

"Yeah I think I do. That is the last time I will ever try to out eat your brother."

"Charlie I'm really surprised that you didn't remember how much he can eat. Don't you remember the hotdog eating contest?"

Charlie laughed. "Oh yeah, I forgot all about that."

"So I'm very glad that you're calling me but I sense you're not calling to say hi. What's up?"

"Well, I hate to bother you, but I need to pick your brain. There's a case I'm working on for Don and it involves stolen artwork. I want to show you a list and see if you can give us some thoughts on the art.If it's all right that Don and I come down to your office."

"Yeah, sure Charlie. What time should I expect you? I'm free for the rest of the afternoon."

"We'll head down in half an hour or so."

"Okay great. I'm on the 36th floor Suite 5 in the Malone building. I'll let my assistant know to show you right in."

* * *

The two brothers stepped out of the conference room. Don stopped at Colby's desk and gave him a task. "Charlie and I are going downtown. While we're there, I want you and David to go talk to the other assistants and see if they had any high end items in their inventory that were not stolen.

"Megan, why don't you come with us? We're going to see a friend of Charlie's who may be able to shed some light on the stolen artwork."

Megan nodded her head. She grabbed her jacket and followed the Eppes' brothers to the parking lot.

The three of them stepped off the elevator at the 36th floor.

The receptionist's phone was ringing wildly. She smiled at them and put a call on hold.

"Welcome to Smith, Klein and Weston. How may I help you?"

"I'm Dr. Eppes. This is Agent Reeves and Agent Eppes. We have an appointment with Dr. Giada Conti."

"Yes, her assistant told me. Go right into suite five and Paula will help you."

The three of them walked down the hallway to suite five and pushed through two glass doors.

Sitting at a desk was an older woman with a take-no-prisoner air about her. She looked up from her work and said, "Hello, you must be the appointment that Dr. Conti told me to expect."

The assistant ushered them into a posh office where they saw Giada having a very animated conversation over the phone.

The saw her laugh from the other side of her desk, completely engrossed in her conversation. "I'm very proud of you. I can't wait to see the play that you're going to be in, Carla. Okay, you take care. I have an appointment right now. Tell your mother I'll call her later. Give your brother a kiss for me. No your brother doesn't have cooties. Bye."

Giada turned to see Charlie, Don and a woman she had never met before standing in her office. She smiled at them and said, "My niece. She's too much. Anyway, Hi Charlie. Hey Don." She gave Charlie a hug and nodded to Don.

Don smiled and said, "Hey Giada. It's nice to see you again. This is Agent Megan Reeves."

"Hello Agent Reeves."

"Please to meet you Dr. Conti. Please, call me Megan."

"Most certainly, if you call me Giada." She shook hands with the female agent.

"So you said you needed to pick my brain?

Charlie said, "As I said over the phone, I need to get some background information on some art work for a case that Don is investigating. I was hoping you would be able to help."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever I can do to help."

"You may have heard about the rash of robberies at local art houses. Megan said. "We were hoping you could tell us a little about the stolen art."

"The rumors have been out of control. Everyone is concerned if they will be hit next. Many places are increasing security and canceling scheduled auctions until things settle down."

Charlie saw the worried looks on his friend's faces and said, "That's part of why we're here. I'm collecting data that'll help me to calculate where they would go next."

"I'm at your disposal. Please have a seat and tell me what you want to know. Didn't you say you had a list that you wanted me to look at?"

Don took out the list for Giada.

She stepped back to her desk and read through the list.

Giada asked in a surprised voice, "Are you sure that this list is correct? Cause if it is, your suspects are either pretty stupid or they plan to start a movement in collecting second-rate impressionists."

Don looked at Giada. "It's funny you say that because Mr. Wither's intern made the same comment about the art."

"You know, the more I read this list, the more interesting it becomes. I'm 90 sure that all these painters were actually students of Monet."

She tapped the side of her head to think for a moment. "I can't help but be a little suspicious of why they would want those paintings." Gia mused to herself as she verbalized her thoughts out loud. "The questions I would be asking is why do these people want them? What are they going to do with them? I think I know your answer."

"What is it?" Don looked at Gia.

"Since the paintings were by students of Monet, they would have used the same kinds of paint and also the same techniques as he did. I think your art thieves are hoping to use them to make forgeries."

Don, Megan and Charlie looked at Giada surprised.

"How would they do that?" Charlie asked.

"The short answer is that forgers take the older work, scrape paint chips off of it and mix them into the new paint. Then they clean the older canvas and paint over it, using the same technique that artist would have used. There's a bit more to it than that but that's the gist of it. It's not a huge problem because there are only a handful of painters out there that could possibly recreate artwork by one of the great artists, but the artwork will be tested by laboratories for authenticity and the lab results will show that the paint was used from said era. Unfortunately, because the forgeries are often so good, many art dealers sign off that they're the real things. A few people have lost their reputation over scandals such as this. I hope that helps. I can give you a more detailed explanation from an article I wrote on forgery methods."

"That would be great. Does this help you with your algorithm, Charlie?"

Charlie hardly heard his brother because he was scribbling away in his notebook.

"Uh Charlie?"

"Hmm?"

"Does this information help you at all?"

Charlie nodded with much excitement. "Oh yeah, now the data makes a lot more sense. I just need to tweak one thing and I think you'll have a very short list of suspects that you can investigate."

Don cell phone rang. It was David. Don filled him in on the information that Giada gave them and told him to check with the police for any known forgers who may be in the area or that had just been paroled.

Megan was about to ask Giada another question she noticed that the art expert was watching Don with extreme intensity. Giada's eyes turned to Megan and she knew that the Agent had seen her watching Don. The women's eyes met. Giada's face flushed red with embarrassment. Megan smiled at the woman. Charlie, oblivious to this small exchange, kept scribbling in his notebook.

"Dr. Conti?"

"Giada, please."

Megan nodded. "You seem to know a lot about forgeries."

"You'd be surprised. I mean yes, I do. From the paper that I mentioned I wrote and I've been consulted on many high profile pieces. It has made me some friends in high places and enemies in low places." Giada thought about what she had and had not told Agent Reeves. She didn't think that the FBI needed to know that a few months before she had moved to LA, a group had approached her, alluding to her that they wanted to hire to help create forgeries. She had told her father about them and had promised he would have his agents check it out. Her father told his daughter that her name would be kept out of it so her rep wouldn't be tarnished. He called her about month ago to tell her that the group looked like it had left town and the case had gone cold. She wondered if it was the same group that was now in the LA area and thought maybe she should talk to her dad and see if he wanted to contact the agents out here with what intel they had.

Megan replied, "You mentioned that they are only a handful pf artist out there who would be able to repaint the art work can you give us any names?"

Gia looked hard at the female agent, "Uh yes. Let's see the only ones I know who could do it are reputable artists but they would never actually do it. I mean actually I hope they wouldn't."

Megan said, "Well maybe we should have their names anyway just to clear them."

"Umm, okay. Let's see there is Robert Cheswick. He is from NY. Um, Daniel Foster could probably do it and maybe Renee Brianne they I think are located in Paris." Giada watched Megan right the names down in her notebook. She thought for a moment and said, "And I guess you should add me. I could do it. Even though I think the technique of the other artists is better then mine."

Megan looked at the woman for a moment and nodded, "OK if that is all. Thanks."

She nodded back to Megan

Don finished his phone call. "Are you ready to head back to the office?" He asked both his companions.

"Yeah. I think I have a good lead for you," Charlie answered.

Don turned to Giada and said, "Thanks so much for meeting with us."

"No problem. Always happy to do my civic duty, Agent Eppes."

Don smiled and shook his head at her glib comment.

Charlie nodded to his friend. "Yes, thank you. Don't forget you and your brother are coming over on Saturday."

"Yup. I'll see you then. Again, it was a pleasure to meet you Megan. Don, good seeing you again. Please call me any time if you need more information. Before I forget here is the article on forgery techniques."

The two agents and Charlie made their goodbyes and headed out of the office.


	4. Coming clean

After the agents and Charlie left her office, Giada decided to call her father.

"Hi Dad. I have you on speaker, if that's okay?"

Giada could envision her father smiling on the other end. "Hello my daughter. That's fine. How is la la land treating you?"

"Fine Dad, and it isn't as bad as you think." She paused before changing the subject. "I hate to bother you at work, but this may have something to do with that problem we talked about before I left to California."

"I had my agents look into that, but the trail went cold." A note of concern tinged Giada's father's voice. "Have they contacted you again?"

Giada got up to look out her window. She ran her fingers through her dark curly hair. "No, they haven't, but my friend's brother is working on a case involving art thievery. You know how you told me if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck then get your gun out? I just have this feeling that they're the same people." The father chuckled. "Ah my suspicious daughter is at it again."

Her eyes glittered, happy that her father knew her so well. "Do you remember my friend Charlie Eppes – from Princeton?"

There was a pause on the line and a rustling of paper. "Wasn't Charlie Eppes that genius kid you and your brother had run with when you were freshman? I believe he was the one that helped your brother rig up the bucket of slime that ruined your party dress. Along with that girl Jade."

Giada started laughing, amazed that her father always remembered all the things she and her brother had gotten into. "Your memory never ceases to amaze me."

He laughed along with his daughter. "Much to your mother's chagrin, where do you think you got yours from?"

Gia smiled at her father's comment, knowing all too well that he was right. She continued telling her story. "His brother is a Federal Agent here in LA and they're investigating some robberies. They were just here to ask me what I thought about the items that were stolen. I told them the art work was pretty worthless and the only reason I could think of for why it would be stolen was that it could be used to make forgeries." She wondered if she should've told them that she had been approached to make forgeries. but she worked in a very competitive business any whiff of a scandal would be devastating.

She could hear her father drumming his fingers on his desk ands he could picture him deciding on the best course of action. " Well it may not be the same people but I don't like coincidences. No harm in having one my agents call out there and give them the information we gathered. We'll keep your name out of it so your rep stays untarnished."

Sighing with relief, Giada thanked her father.

"A shame that you didn't join the bureau. You were so suspicious of people even as a little girl. You would've made a good agent."

"Dad!" Giada rolled her eyes. "Still trying to recruit me eh? It's not going to work. I love my job and my career."

"I know my daughter." He laughed knowing all to well the face she was making. "Don't mean to give you a hard time but I want to have the best and you fit the bill."

"Thanks Dad." She smiled whenever her father dropped hints that the bureau could use her. "I love you, Dad."

"Me too. Call your mother. She says she hasn't heard from you in a while."

"I call her every other day. What else does the woman want?" Giada grumbled with exasperation. Talking to her mother more than that always made Giada nuts. Her mother was constantly nagging her. '_When are you gonna find a husband? You're getting up there. You may not be able to have children if you wait to much longer. How come you had to move to LA_?' It was enough to drive Giada to the psych ward.

Her father paused for a second and then said with much emotion, "G, she just misses you. We all do. So cut her some slack."

"Alright Dad I'll try. I'll let you get back to work. Thanks again. Bye."

She walked back to her desk to hit end button on her speakerphone. She sank into her chair and tried to rub the fatigued out of eyes. It was really hard to put up such a front around certain people like her father and Don. She didn't want her father to hear the fear and self-doubt in her voice and as for Don; she didn't want him to see her true feelings for him. Like so many other people she sometimes had to wear a mask and she hated it. She had to exude confidence and sophistication for her job when she was really not all that confident and sophisticated. Her mother telling her not to be so goofy but to be more like her older sister. Her mother even had enrolled Giada into dance school, which never translated to gracefulness in the real world for the clutsy woman. At least when she was with her brother and Charlie she could be herself. She was glad she had reestablished her friendship with Charlie out here.

She remembered the day they met Charlie. They were standing in line to get on the bus when a thin dark haired kid tripped and knock right into the back of her. He apologized to her mumbling. "that he was such a clutz. " She looked at the boy and told him that it was ok cause she was queen of the clutzes. He laughed and said 'Well that must make me king." Her brother always the jokester commented, "Does that mean we have to get you body padding as well?" Giada glaring at her brother she offered him a smack to the back of the head. Charlie laughed at the exchange between the two of them. She remembered how kind his eyes were and felt instantly drawn to the other teen. The three of them spent the entire bus trip talking and laughing.

She also knew that she could trust Charlie and that was the other thing she loved about him. Because of her not trusting people it could be hard for her to make friends. Unsure if people really liked her or not she sometimes let potential relationships go. When she would meet people she always lacked just that extra bit of confidence either she came on to strong and opinionated or to wishy washy. But she never felt like that around Charlie. He would laugh at all of her brother's dumb jokes and her silly stories. Thinking of all the time they spent together back then always made her smile. She sighed and returned to shuffling her paperwork.

* * *

Don, Megan and Charlie returned to the FBI building to add the new data into the algorithm. Charlie headed towards the conference room to start running his algorithm.

Don went over to Colby's desk to see what information they had gotten out of the other assistants. Colby was just finishing a phone call when his boss approached.

Don said to Colby, "What did you find?"

"At the first robbery, the director told me that they had nothing over 5K at the auction house. They keep the more valuable artwork in a high security location. The second robbery scene pretty much said the same thing. They don't carry anything over 2500$ at the auction house itself."

David came over to Colby's desk. "I just got an interesting phone call from the Philadelphia office. Seems our art thieves may have been out there casing joints. They also had an anonymous tip that our guys approached someone to work on forgeries for them. They looked into it, but nothing panned out. I also checked to see if there were any known forgers in our area and if anyone was just recently released from jail, but that was a bust."

Don listened to the information that his team gave him in silence. He wondered what the connection was and why the forgers had moved out to the LA area. Could this case from the Philly bureau be connected to his? Don wasn't willing to leave any stone unturned. "I want you to run down the information that the Philly office gave you and see if anything connects. I'm going to go check with Charlie and see what we've got."

He stopped outside the room and watched his brother through the glass. He was proud that he got to work with his brother and he enjoyed the connection he had with his family

"How's it going?"

"It's going good." Charlie raced back to the other side of the room to type something into the computer. After seeing the answer he was looking for, he ran to the white board and wrote down more of his equation. "Based on the information that Giada gave us, they seem to only hit places that are holding lower end paintings. There's a high probability that they're either going to hit here." He put a thumbtack in on a map. "Or here." Charlie then placed another thumbtack at that location.

Don stuck his head out of the conference room. "Guys, I need you to join us in the conference room."

Don updated the team on all the latest intelligence and on what Charlie had told him. "Megan and Colby I want you to head up a team to surveillance the first location and David and I will assemble a team to watch the second. Good work, Charlie"

"No problem." Charlie smiled. "Let me know if you need me again. I'm going to head back to CalSci to prep for my next class."

* * *

Giada was in the middle of dictating a report on her latest assessment when her private line rang. She looked at the caller ID and despite not recognizing the name; her curiosity got the better of her.

Puzzled she picked up the phone. A heavy accented voice on the other line spoke, "Dr. Giada Conti."

"Yes this is she." Her voice was filled with trepidation.

"Hello again Dr. Conti."

Giada cleared her throat. "Who is this?"

"Oh, I think you know who this is Dr. Conti." The voice answered with a hint of amusement.

Gia took in a sharp breath and then growled in response, "Yeah, I know who you are. I told you I would not be of service to you and to leave me alone."

"Unfortunately that is going to be impossible. Our timetable is now askew because of a certain FBI agent, who, by the way, we just witnessed coming out of your office. And we still need someone to perform a certain task for us."

"I told you before and I'll say it again, you can forget it. I'm not going to do it."

"You won't will you? The man on the other end chortled at the fear in her voice

"Listen, you SOB, I'm going to hang up the phone and you better not call me again."

"Or what? You'll call your daddy and he'll cover your tracks? Maybe I'll just make a little call in to the FBI and tell them that you know more then you let on. Would you like that, Doctor?"

Gia hissed, "You bastard!"

"Since the stakes are now higher because of you. You need to make a choice. Either do what we want or there could be come consequences… if you get my drift? We'll be in touch."

Gia's hands were shaking as she hung up the phone. She was not sure what she should do. When her cell phone rang, she almost jumped off her chair.

"What!"

"Whoa girl. Chill out. It's me, your brother. You okay?"

She sat back in her chair and tried to calm her nerves. She was really relieved that it was her brother on the phone and not that man again. "Johnny? Sorry, yeah I was um lost in thought and you startled me."

"No prob. Hey listen I am not going to be able to make dinner tonight with everyone. Make my apologies?

She looked down at her the phone. "Oh, no. You got suckered into pulling a double again?

"Yeah, one of the other doctors called out sick and I said I would cover. If is ok I'm going to run to your place for a shower and nap before I have to start the next shift?

"Yeah no problem. It won't be the same without you but I will give your regrets."

* * *

Gia arrived to Cleo's and parked her car. She headed over to meet the group when she spied them across the street. She waved to them to let them know she was there. Her friend started to cross the street when a dark car further up the street started picking up speed. Gia watched as the car headed towards her friends. It was surreal. Time seemed to slow down. She tried to scream for them to watch out, but she was too late. The car slammed into Charlie and another man who just had the misfortune to be there. She watched as the bodies of the two men fly through the air like rag dolls. The car then took off. Gia ran over to the two crumpled forms lying on the pavement.

Larry screamed, "Oh my god, someone call 911."

Amita took out her cell phone frantically and called the police.

At that time Giada's cell phone rang and she picked it up absentmindedly. The voice on the other end said, "You've been warned. Do what we want or next time we'll finish the job. We'll be in touch."

"Charlie, can you hear me? Hang on. We called for help. You're gonna be okay." Her friend had a gash on his temple and a big welt settling on his wrist. Charlie's eyes were closed and there were large tares in his clothing.

Giada looked to Amita who knelt by Charlie's side. They both had deep lines of fear etched on their face.

Giada could hear the crowd of bystanders talking. Giada heard smatterings of conversation, "Right out of no where, that car didn't stop…. I think it was aiming for that group of people." She tried to suppress a shuddered of fear. She hadn't been this scared in years. She just wanted to get up and cause some damage to these people.

The paramedics arrived and took the injured men to the hospital.

Gia, Amita and Larry piled into Giada's car and went to the hospital. Amita said, "I should call Alan to tell him what happen. ."

Larry and Giada nodded their heads in agreement. All three of them felt numb at what happened.

They arrive at the hospital. They saw that Giada's brother was taking care of Charlie. One of the nurses recognized Giada. "You're Dr. Giovanni Conti's sister?"

"Miranda isn't it?"

The nurse was surprised that the woman remembered her name.

Giada then said, "Yes I am his sister. Is our friend going to be alright?"

The nurse saw the concern in the three friends faces. Your brother is a fine doctor. Your friend is in good hands. It's best if you go sit in the waiting room and let us do our job.

They all sat waiting for news on how Charlie was doing.

Larry looked around and commented, "Did you see that car. It was like it was aiming for Charlie."

At this time Alan came in to the ER with the police only steps behind him.

Amita ran over to Alan and told him that Charlie was being looked at. Alan took a seat next to Larry.

All three friends tried to give reassuring smiles to Alan.

At this time Giada's brother came in. He looked around and saw the group. "Excuse me are you Charlie's father?"

Alan stood up at the doctor approached. "Yes I'm Charlie's dad. How is he? Is he going to be alright?"

"Mr. Eppes your son is going to be fine. Aside from some small lacerations he has a slight concussion. We want to keep him here overnight for observation."

With an audible sigh of relief Alan asked the doctor if could go see Charlie.

"Yeah sure follow me Mr. Eppes."

"Call me Alan. Thanks for taking care of my son. Hey do you realize that you look a lot like my son's friend?"

"You don't say….."

The two police officers walk over to the group. "Excuse me. We were told you were the eyewitness to the accident."

"Yes officers, we saw everything" The three of them gave their statements to the officers.

After they talked to the police they asked the nurse if they could go into see Charlie.

She said it was against hospital policy but if they would be quick they could go in pop their heads in to say hello.

They found out Alan sitting besides Charlie holding a cup with a straw in it letting him get a sip of liquid.

Charlie eyes looked a bit dazed. He had a butterfly bandage on his cheek and a large purple bruise near his lips. He tried to give his friend's a smile to let them he was ok.

"Ow!" He moaned as he turned his head. "Who knew smiling and trying to look at people would hurt so much."

At this time Don rushed in. His faced held fear and worry for his brother. "You ok buddy?"

Alan turned to his oldest son and told him what the doctor had said.

The nurse came in and said, "Okay everyone out. We're going to admit Mr. Eppes. You can all see him after upstairs where were finished." She shooed everyone out."

They all headed back to the waiting room when Giada turned to Don and said. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Don looked at her puzzlingly and followed her down the hallway.

Giada started pacing up and down the hallway. She wasn't able to look the agent in the face. "I have to tell you something. When you guys came and saw me earlier today. I didn't tell you everything."

Don looked at the woman. "What do you mean? What did you hold back?" He had an edge to his voice.

"I didn't know that this would happen."

"What are you talking about? Calm down and start from the beginning."

"Okay." She rubbed the sides of her temples. "About five months before I moved out here, I was approach by a guy. He never came out and said it, but he was sending out feelers about how I felt regarding forgeries. I told him what he could do with that idea and I told my father." She stopped talking for a minute and looked at Don. She licked her lips and continued talking, "Anyway, they did some investigating but it went cold. My dad kept my name out of any official reports since the art world is full of gossip and even a hint of something like this could end my career."

Don rubbed his chin and paced in the hospital hallway. She could tell he was angry. "So that's why we got a call from the Philly office. You called your dad?"

"Yes, I told him about our conversation and I thought that it might be connected."

"Are you holding back anything else?" He grabbed her arm and squeezed a little to hard.

Giada looked down at the floor. She couldn't bear the look he was giving her. "Yes, I mean no. I think the car that hit Charlie was a warning to me. I got a call about three hours ago from the same man from Philadelphia. He told me that their timetable was messed up and that they still wanted to hire me to do the work. I told them no and they told me they knew the FBI was on their tracks. He told me the stakes were higher and I had to make a choice or there would be consequences. I told him to go to hell and hung up the phone."

She sunk to the floor and covered her face with her hands. "I was supposed to meet them for dinner when I saw this large dark blue sedan speeding around the corner. After it was all over I got a call saying that I've been warned." She started to sob thinking what if that car did more then just give Charlie a concussion. Those people could have killed one of her friends.

"I am so sorry." Tears started to stream down her face.

"Giada, this isn't your fault." She watched the rage in his eyes soften towards her. "Thank you for being honest and telling me everything. We're gonna catch these guys."

She looked up at the determined look in Don's face. She knew that he would let nothing stand his way to catch these guys who hurt his younger brother. She looked down at the floor and for a moment she felt pity for the bad guys. Just for a moment. The bad guys were in for a really bad time.


	5. Serenity, singing and a kiss

Again thanks to my awesome beta readers, Eff, Rae and Linda. I think after a while they will get sick of me but for now I have them in my clutches. Muhahahahahah. cough Ur yes, Thanks guys!

Interesting factoid that I found. Funny how it fits with the middle of the story. Just an interesting tid bit on the meaning of the Giada: Simply means "jade" from the name of the precious stone that is often used in carvings. It is probably derived from the Spanish _(piedra de la) ijada_ meaning "(stone of the) colic", relating to the belief that jade could cure colic.

Sorry POV switches a bit for this chapter.

updated 6/18/06.

* * *

It was about two weeks since the whole accident. The cuts on Charlie face had healed and he was back to his old self. 

Charlie had guests at his house for pizza and a movie. They already watched "The Ring" and now they were going to watch "Serenity".

Alan stepped into the living room to see his youngest son laughing with his friends. He swelled with pride on at the thought of how well his younger son turned out."

Charlie turned around and saw his dad in the foyer, watching him and his friends.

"Dad your home early. How was your dinner with Art?"

"Fine, fine Charlie." He looked around for Don. "I thought you were going to invite your brother over."

Charlie walked over to where his dad was standing, "I did. He must have forgotten and just went home."

Johnny walked up to Alan and Charlie "Dad you remember Dr. Conti?"

Johnny looked to Alan and said, "Good to see you under different circumstances Mr. Eppes. I was going to refill our drinks. Do you want a refill Charlie?"

"Same here. Thanks again for taking care of my son Dr. Conti." Alan greeted the young man.

Charlie smiled at his friend. "Nah Johnny, I'm good, but thanks."

Alan said to Johnny, "Let me help you rustle up those drinks."

"Thanks, Mr. Eppes."

"Call me Alan."

"Call me Johnny"

Charlie looked at his father and said, "We're going to watch another movie if you want to join us."

"Yeah? What movie?"

Johnny answered before Charlie could and said, "Some movie my sister keeps talking about. It based on some cancelled show………."

* * *

Alan and Johnny walked off to the kitchen. Charlie heard the front door open. He looked down the hallway and saw his brother come in. 

"Hey, Buddy. You feeling ok? I'm not too late am I?"

"Hi, Don. Never better. No not to late, we were just going to watch a second movie. You hungry? We have some pizza."

"Yeah sure."

"Go sit down I'll grab you a slice and a beer. Tell Gia not to start the film yet."

Don walked into the family room where to join the group were sitting and talking.

Larry saw him first and said, "Greetings Don."

"Hey Larry. Hey Amita."

Giada was next to the DVD player. She turned around to see her hearts desire and cleared her throat. "Good to see you again."

"SamehereThanks again for that information you shared with us.

Her face filled with relief. "No problem. I'm glad I could help," Giada said with a smile. Giada's cell phone rang, interrupting the conversation. "Hello?" she said to the caller. "Hey Celeste. What's wrong? Uh, huh. Yeah sure give me a second. Hold on. " Turning back to everyone she said, "Excuse me, I'm going to step outside for a second to talk to my sister-in-law. You can start the movie without me. I've seen it already."

Along the way to the back porch she saw Alan, Charlie, and her brother.

"Everything alright G?"

Giada smiled at her brother for using the familiar nickname. "Yeah, everything is fine. Its just Celeste."

The three of them headed back into the family room The group put the movie on.

* * *

Don got up to get another slice of pizza. He walked by the back porch and heard singing. He looked out the back door and saw Giada quietly singing into her cell phone. He became transfixed by her sweet voice. 

"…Starry, starry night, portraits hung in empty halls  
Frameless heads on nameless walls with eyes that watch the world and can't forget.  
Like the stranger that you've met, the ragged man in ragged clothes  
The silver thorn of bloody rose, lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow

Now I think I know what you tried to say to me  
How you suffered for you sanity How you tried to set them free  
They would not listen they're not listening still  
Perhaps they never will."

Her voice heldsuch depth of emotion that it was almost heartbreaking to listen too. He realized that he should not have been eavesdropping on his brother's friend and started to move back in to the house.

Giada whispered, "Is she asleep? Good. Why she likes that song I have no idea. Sure thing. No not at all. Call me anytime. Okay I'll talk to you later. Give my love to Paul. Okay night."

Giada ended her phone call and turned to head back in the house. She saw Don standing in the doorway watching her. She was quite embarrassed, but decided to play it off. "Hi."

He looked at Giada and said, "I didn't mean to intrude, but I heard singing and I went to check it out. You have a beautiful voice."

Gia rambled, "Thanks. That was my sister-in-law. Um, my niece is colicky and sometimes my sister-in-law asks if I could sing to the baby it seems to calm her down and she usually falls asleep." Giada felt uncomfortable under Don's gaze, but she couldn't pull her eyes from his.

Don eyes were locked with Giada's.

Giada cleared her throat. "Um, I should get back, I'm sure they're wondering where I am."

She started to walk back into the house when she tripped and started to fall. Don stepped forward and caught her in his armsbefore she fell to the ground.

Her breath got caught in her throat as she realized she was in his arms. She looked up at him. She made up her mind to do the crazy thing she was thinking. She wrapped her arms around him ever so slightly and whispered, "Forgive me for what I am about to do." She pressed her lips to his ever so gently.

Don stood there stunned that she was kissing him. At first he just stood there . He was bit shocked that she was kissing him but then he smelled her floral perfume and felt her smooth hands on his face. Before he could think clearly, something came over him and he kissed her back. Their lips touched gently like butterfly wings and then the kiss became a bit more urgent. He pulled her a little closer, savoring what it felt like to have a woman in his arms again. He thought it had been too long since he had last kissed a beautiful woman. She tightened her arms around him. He could feel her warm body against his and he was powerless to stop his body from radiating that warmth back. His mind registered that the woman kissing him touch and kissed him with strong passion that made him feel overwelmed."

A few moments had passed and Don came to his senses. He pulled out of the embrace, harsher than he had intended on. Giada's eyes went wide with embarrassment. She pulled away, her face flushed with humiliation, and dashed back into the house.

She composed herself before she entered the family room. She sat down next to her brother who took one look at his sister and said, "G, what was taking so long?"

"Oh it was the baby. She wasn't sleeping again. I see you started the movie. Oh, I like this part." She settled down into the couch next to her twin brother. She thought, _'Oh god, what a freaken idiot I am. I can't believe I just did that.'_

Charlie looked around the room and didn't see his brother. He heard his brother in the hallway "We started the movie. Come and join us."

"Yeah sure, buddy." Don walked into the family room and sat as far away from Giada as possible.

The two of them spent the remainder of the evening avoiding each other.

* * *

Little did they know that Alan had watched the whole scene play out. He had notived before that Gia was attracted to his other son. Much to Alan's chagrin, he had watched as his son pulled out of the embrace with the young woman. He had seen the sting in her eyes at the abrupt ending of their kiss. He had watched the two of them avoid each other for the rest of the evening. He felt bad for Gia and thought that maybe he needed to have a little talk with his son about what he should do when a woman falls for him and initiates contact. He shook his head in disappointment and tried to watch the movie.

* * *

**Author's note:** If you like this story. Please continue on to Art Now Becoming love. It is the continuation of this story but made a seperate one for increased rating. Thanks so much for reading my little old story. I hope you liked it and if you didn't thanks for at least giving me a try. 


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